Meth + intercooler

I plan to go FBO soon and have been looking at intercoolers. I already use meth so should I be looking for a core that offers the lowest pressure drop? The car is used as a DD and won't see any lapping sessions.

Appreciate any insight a/o suggestions as I couldn't find an intercooler comparision chart on the forums.

I plan to go FBO soon and have been looking at intercoolers. I already use meth so should I be looking for a core that offers the lowest pressure drop? The car is used as a DD and won't see any lapping sessions.

Appreciate any insight a/o suggestions as I couldn't find an intercooler comparision chart on the forums.

Its hard to find solid data on intercoolers, because inherent to their design, if the core is great at lowering temps, it will have a larger pressure drop. I personally went with the "Big Tom" style intercooler, it was cheap, the pressure drop is negligible, and the massive size allows it to supress IAT's very well.

You are exactly correct, you'll want the lowest pressure drop since meth wil be handling IAT surpression. Someone on here did some testing a while back I think. It was found that the AMS FMIC had the lowest pressure drop and best fin design i think. Helix was better at IAT surpression but had more pressure drop. I think VRSF may be a good low cost option as I'm pretty sure it's an AMS knockoff. ETS was in the middle on both pressure drop and IAT surpression. I had an Agency Power FMIC that has a similar core design to AMS but the end tanks were a little different and looked like it could create some unwanted turbulence. I liked it, it wasn't great for IAT surpression buy my WGDC was always pretty decent even at 19.5 PSI.

Originally Posted by redlineryder

I plan to go FBO soon and have been looking at intercoolers. I already use meth so should I be looking for a core that offers the lowest pressure drop? The car is used as a DD and won't see any lapping sessions.

Appreciate any insight a/o suggestions as I couldn't find an intercooler comparision chart on the forums.

Helix has the most pressure drop of all the ones tested. He doesn't need the FMIC for IAT surpression which the Helix is best at. He's looking to upgrade the stocker while keeping pressure drop to a minimum. Helix is the opposite of what he's looking for.

Yes. This was not with the new helix design. It'd be interesting to see if there were pressure drop improvements on the new Helix. It is certainly very good at lowering IATs, if it reduced pressure drop also, that would make it one of the most well rounded on the market. No data on it yet though.

Originally Posted by E90Company

Im on my phone so can't read much, but what I gathered is they tested the old end tank helix design?

Helix does have a V2 version that's been out for some time now. They've redesigned the sore point of the V1s which had subpar end tanks. The core stayed the same through v1 and v2 as that core is as good as it gets IAT control wise on this platform.

Just like with turbos (big top end, bigger turbine, more lag type of trade off), with FMICs its better IAT control, more pressure drop. The thing to keep in mind is how the FMIC works/cools air down. It has to KEEP the air inside the core longer to properly cool it down, which naturally means more pressure drop. Combine it with a great efficient core with plenty of frontal area and you've got a great FMIC capable of superior IAT control.

With meth that becomes moot and what you want is just a decent FMIC with minimal pressure drop. Helix redesigned their end tanks in V2 but AMS still has the best in that respect. On stock turbos AND meth if it came to Helix vs. AMS, AMS would probably be my choice. Without meth I'd go with the Helix.

In the end, with meth on the car, just get one that fits your budget. If you have the money for it go for the best. We carry many different quality brands, they'll all do a MUCH better job than that little sad and crappy stock fmic

it'd be great (perfect in fact) if there was empirical evidence of the pressure drop/IAT delta etc. etc. every positive function an IC can have.. i'm sure it's not even difficult to get these ESPECIALLY for the manufacturers.. like the white papers CP-E produced for theirs as far as i can remember

surely you could set up a simple bench with sensors that blows hot pressurized air in and measures it with a few sensors?

at least i'd really like to have direct swap comparisons from one IC to another.. but that's even less realistic to expect lol.